How the story of a girl in the woods became the film, ‘The Good One’

Sam (Lily Collias) is a teenage girl trapped in the woods with two men. Not in a slasher or action movie kind of way. In “The Good One,” she is stuck with her dad (James LeGros) and his friend (Danny McCarthy) on a camping trip as the two men bond, bicker, posture and melt down a bit.

SEE ALSO : A missing child, a summer camp and a serial killer fuel Liz Moore’s ‘God of the Woods’ Navigating this weekend and her role in the adult world, Sam is more self-aware and observant — and often smarter — than the grown-ups who are nominally in charge. That doesn’t make her sense of isolation any easier, but it creates a poignant and quietly powerful film in writer-director India Donaldson’s feature debut. Lily Collias plays Sam in “The Good One,” the debut film from director India Donaldson.

(Courtesy of Metrograph Pictures) ‘The Good One’ director India Donaldson on set of the film. (Photo credit Eric Ruby / Courtesy of Metrograph Pictures) Lily Collias and James LeGros in “The Good One,” the debut film from director India Donaldson. (Courtesy of Metrograph Pictures) Lily Collias plays Sam in ‘The Good One’ by director India Donaldson.

(Courtesy of Metrograph Pictures) Lily Collias plays Sam in “The Good One,” the debut film from director India Donaldson. (Courtesy of Metrograph Pictures) Donaldson’s father, Roger Donaldson , is a director (“No Way Out,” “Thirteen Days”) and she grew up immersed in that world before deciding she needed h.